Research
My work focuses on how cost, system design, and daily challenges impact people with chronic illness—and how to reduce those barriers. I lead applied research that drives tools, policies, and programs to improve care and affordability.
Recent Research
Current Diabetes Reports, 2025 May 13;25(1):32.
Financial Toxicity in Diabetes: The State of What We Know
Patel MR.
Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2025 Mar 10.
Leveraging artificial intelligence to identify and intervene on unmet social needs through care coordination: A scoping review
Davis VH*, Pinto A, Patel MR.
Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes, 2025 Jan 6;9(1):2.
Clinically meaningful classes of financial toxicity for patients with diabetes
Patel MR, Troost JP, Heisler M, Carlozzi NE.
Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2024 Dec 9.
Unbanked status among individuals with diabetes: Exploring reasons, correlates, and implications for financial and health outcomes
Patel MR.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2024 Oct;39(13):2415-2424.
Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Unmet Social Needs and Clinical Outcomes Among Adults with Diabetes
Patel MR, Zhang G*, Heisler M, Piette JD, Resnicow K, Choe HM, Shi X, Song P. A
JAMA Network Open, 2024 Mar 4;7(3):e243723.
Food insecurity at a large academic medical center: understanding the scope, trends, risk factors, and disparities in patients’ interest in assistance
Leung CW, Patel MR, Miller M, Spring E, Wang Z, Wolfson JA, Cohen AJ, Heisler M, Hao W.
Understanding Financial Burden
I conduct research that documents how healthcare costs and unmet everyday needs create barriers for people managing chronic conditions. This work measures the scope of financial strain and identifies the specific challenges people face when trying to afford both medical care and basic necessities.
American Diabetes Association - Diabetes Care. 2022 Nov 1;45(11):2535-2543
Measurement and Validation of the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) in a Population With Diabetes
Minal R Patel, Guanghao Zhang, Michele Heisler, Peter X K Song, John D Piette, Xu Shi, Hae Mi Choe, Alyssa Smith, Kenneth Resnicow
Medical Care. 2016 Aug;54(8):796-803
Social Determinants of Health, Cost-related Nonadherence, and Cost-reducing Behaviors Among Adults With Diabetes: Findings From the National Health Interview Survey
Minal R Patel, John D Piette, Kenneth Resnicow, Theresa Kowalski-Dobson, Michele Heisler
Medical Care. 2025 May 1;63(5):353-357
Chronic Disease and Future Perceptions of Financial Control: Results From the Midlife in the United States Cohort Study
Victoria H Davis, Guanghao Zhang, Minal R Patel
Practical Solutions
I design and test interventions that help patients navigate financial barriers and access resources they need. My research evaluates programs that reduce healthcare costs, improve care coordination, and connect people with support services.
Randomized Controlled - Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2024 Oct;39(13):2415-2424
A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Unmet Social Needs and Clinical Outcomes Among Adults with Diabetes
Minal R Patel, Guanghao Zhang, Michele Heisler, John D Piette, Kenneth Resnicow, Hae-Mi Choe, Xu Shi, Peter Song
Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes. 2025 Jan 6;9(1):2.
Clinically meaningful classes of financial toxicity for patients with diabetes
Minal R Patel, Jonathan P Troost, Michele Heisler, Noelle E Carlozzi
Health Education & Behavior. 2018 Feb;45(1):101-111.
Solutions to Address Diabetes-Related Financial Burden and Cost-Related Nonadherence: Results From a Pilot Study
Minal R Patel, Kenneth Resnicow, Ian Lang, Kathleen Kraus, Michele Heisler
Accessible Care
I study how healthcare systems can better serve patients facing financial constraints and complex needs. This research focuses on making care delivery more affordable, understandable, and responsive to people's real-world circumstances.
Randomized Controlled Trial - Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2022 Sep;63(3 Suppl 2):S152-S163.
Motivators, Barriers, and Preferences to Engagement With Offered Social Care Assistance Among People With Diabetes: A Mixed Methods Study
Alicia J Cohen, Nicole Isaacson, Michelle Torby, Alyssa Smith, Guanghao Zhang, Minal R Patel
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2018 Dec 1;198(11):1367-1374.
Improving the Affordability of Prescription Medications for People with Chronic Respiratory Disease. An Official American Thoracic Society Policy Statement
Minal R Patel, Valerie G Press, Lynn B Gerald, Teresa Barnes, Kathryn Blake, Lee K Brown, Richard W Costello, Courtney Crim, Mark Forshag, Andrea S Gershon, Christopher H Goss, MeiLan K Han, Todd A Lee, Stuart Sweet, Joe K Gerald
JAMA Network Open. 2020 Jul 1;3(7):e208776.
Examination of Changes in Health Status Among Michigan Medicaid Expansion Enrollees From 2016 to 2017
Minal R Patel, Renuka Tipirneni, Edith C Kieffer, Jeffrey T Kullgren, John Z Ayanian, Tammy Chang, Erica Solway, Erin Beathard, Matthias Kirch, Sunghee Lee, Sarah Clark, Jennifer Skillicorn, Zachary Rowe, Susan D Goold